Hyundai on The Move!

Hyundai Motors is in no mood to slowdown as of now. First it launched the new Verna Transform with a bang, and now, it is back in the news with the twin announcements of the Santa Fe launch and the 800cc mini car launch in 2010 end and 2011 consecutively.

The automaker announced that though it operates only two manufacturing plants in India with a total production of 600.000 vehicles per year, it will import all Santa Fe SUVs from South Korea to make them available for Indian customers. Commenting on the new SUV, a top Hyundai official said that the new Santa Fe SUV will be a completely built unit, and after two-three years it will be manufactured completely as a knocked down unit.

Till date all the SUVs made by Tata Motors have been immensely popular in Indian market, so have been the sporty Mahindra cars, but when Hyundai tried to surprise Indian mass with its Tucson SUV, it received a lukewarm response. Now, the carmaker hopes to do a better job with the new Santa Fe SUV, and has accordingly adorned it with a plethora of styling tweaks and powertrain updates, including new front fascia, front and rear bumpers and slightly updated tail-lights.

Coming to the all new mini-car, Hyundai Motors India limited has scheduled its launch in the first half of the next year. The 800 ccm or 0.8L Hyundai car will be slotted below Hyundai Santro, the predecessor of popular Hyundai i10, and is now in the final phase of development.

Hyundai Santa Fe SUV to Hit Indian Roads this Year

Hyundai is soon going to launch its most awaited Santa Fe SUV in 2010, which will be available to its customers in 2.4-liter and 2.2 liter petrol engines. A new 2.2-liter CRDi turbo unit develops 197 horsepower and 422 Nm of torque between 1,800 and 2,500, rpm along with six-speed manual transmission. Another option is the 2.4-liter petrol unit that develops 174 HP mated to a manual transmission, with an option of a six-speed automatic gearbox.

The interiors of the 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe SUV car gets a leather-wrapped steering wheel, new instrument panel, navigation system, a smart key, large LCD screen connected to the parking assist system, optional rear-view camera, start-stop button and active head rests for improved safety.

The most alluring part of the new Hyundai Santa SUV is that it has an ECO light that illuminates in red, white, or green according to the behavior of the driver. The standard manual Hyundai Santa Fe have a shift light that illuminates when the optimum shift point for fuel economy is reached.

Other style changes include exterior mirrors, chrome door handles, with built-in indicators, and 17-inch file-spoke alloy wheels. Fuel consumption stands at 27.6 mpg, while CO2 emitted is 203 g/km.

But there is no information available yet about the price of the 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe in India and it is expected that the SUV will take on the Honda CR-V and the Chevrolet Captiva in the Indian market.